"This project will enable sustainable
human exploration through use of local resources. Concepts to
produce fuel, oxygen, and water from the soil and atmosphere
of celestial bodies will be explored."

The ultimate objective of the In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)
project is to develop an ISRU payload that is delivered to the moon
on a commercially provided launch vehicle and lander. The exact commercial
entity used to deliver the payload will be determined through a competitive
process. The lunar demonstration will be focused on processing regolith
to acquire water and determine its availability and distribution.
An equally important objective will be to process the regolith to
demonstrate the ability to extract oxygen from the minerals in the
regolith. The hardware provided under this project will be specifically
designed so that it can accomplish both of these objectives, and
as such, the hardware will be able to operate at any lunar landing
site.

Although the ultimate objective is to demonstrate a commercially-landed
ISRU payload, the interim objective will be to develop critical prototype
hardware components necessary to successfully complete the lunar
demonstration. Project personnel will spend the first year developing
design and interface requirements for each of the ISRU components
and select components will be fabricated in the second year. The
performance of the components will then be verified and the components
will be subjected to an environmental test program including vibration
and thermal vacuum tests.